Junior midfielder Karitas Tomasdottir saved the Frogs Friday night in Austin, Texas. A bouncing ball in the penalty box found Tomasdottir’s foot and she cleared the ball into the net. The goal was her fourth of the season and earned the Frogs a 1-1 tie against the No. 7 University of Texas Longhorns.
“We showed some character, some fight and some resiliency in the second half to come back and do what we did,” head coach Eric Bell said. “I’m very proud of our group and happy coming away with a point on the road, which is important against a very quality opponent in Texas.”
The first half was dominated by the Frogs, who outshot the Longhorns 8-7 in the period, but Texas entered the locker room with the lead due to Kayla Dollas’ goal off a corner kick in the 36th minute.
The Longhorns came out of halftime with determination to seal the victory, firing off nine shots in the period, but were unable to find a goal to double the lead as sophomore goalkeeper Katie Lund protected the goal for the Horned Frogs. Lund made a total of four saves on the match.
Lund’s stout play in net set up Tomasdottir’s late-game heroics. The Longhorns were called for a foul in the final six minutes of the match, setting up a free kick attempt from first-year defender Tijana Djuricek. She sent a pass inside the six-yard box and a rebound allowed by the Longhorn’s goalkeeper was pounced on by Tomasdottir, tying the game in the late stages of regulation.
Overtime did not prove to be eventful for either team as the Frogs fired off the only two shots of the extra period, both of which were saved by the Longhorns.
With the tie, the Frogs move to 9-4-1 on the season and 3-1-1 in Big 12 action.
Over the past two weekends, the Frogs have played two road games, one at Texas Tech and at the University of Texas. Bell believes that the solid road-game experience and performance should prove fruitful for the home portion of their schedule.
“You want to make sure you take care of home field and get wins,” he said. “On the road, you have to be smart and come away with at least a point. If you can steal one on the road, that’s big. We want to go into these games trying to win them, but at least coming away with a point. The past two weekends have been good for us on the road and hopefully that continues.”
Bell also said that close games, like the one tonight, will continue to grow the team how he desires.
The Frogs will return to Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium Friday, Oct. 13 for a matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
